Inside the World’s Most Luxurious Cigar Shops | #OutofThisWordPod Ep.2

Video Description

A sit down with renown world expert Eddie Sahakian, the founder and owner of Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop Lounge, current managing director and co-owner of ​⁠@davidofflondon3525, one of the most prestigious luxury cigar stores in the world; And with Christopher Bichofer the head of Services at @jamesjfoxcigars9859, The oldest cigar merchant with Rich history includes serving royalties and notable figures. we talked about cuban cigars, we talked about the state of luxury end cuban cigars and where the industry is trying to go to. we also talked about the embargo and 'what if' it never went on Cuba. we talked about Simon chase and his contribution to the cuban cigar world. I asked them about the relationship that they've formed with habano's and their rich history in the world of fine tobacco. we talked about the current challenges and comparing the current states of the industry to what is happening with Rolex. trying to draw parallel from these two luxury worlds and getting a better perspective on the industry This project 'A Tale of Two Smokes' was initially suppose to be this high intelligent deep conversation about cigars, where we're not only comparing two different cultures approach and view towards fine cigars together (British Vs. United States), but really a deep conversation about #cigars as a whole and get a good prespective of not just comparing the highs and the lows, but really get a sense of where the industry is at, and where its trying to go to...that was the plan. The issue with the initial "plan" was really two; the first being, in the United States, most cigar shops are owned by one person. Meaning that ONE person is the tobacconist, the cashier, the manager, if there is a bar he/she is also the bartender, and in most cases they are also the owner of the shop. and as you can imagine, getting a hold of a person with 6 jobs is impossible as these people tend to love their downtime more than their jobs. 2. very quickly after I finished both uk interviews I realized the conversation shifter towards #cubancigars which is fine, but it limited the amount of people who can participate in this. Because I myself am consumer who has a collection of cuban cigars with an okay depth of knowledge about cigars, i needed to look for a credible expert. Thus they either needed to be affiliated with Cuba and and sell cigars or be a cigar expert that can carry the heavy weight #londoners brought into this project. though challenging i did not give up, I contacted 8 different cigar shops and offered them to have a sit down with me. i also reached out to authors, exchanged emails and even got on the phone with couple of reputable authors, but once anyone figured out how many followers i had-or rather how few, or even worst, that this was only the second project i'd ever created/worked on, they dipped. And I genuinely cant blame them. Time is money and at the end of the day this is business. But everything took a turn when I was approaching the Londoners. London rolled out the red carpet. not only I was welcomed with open arms, given about an hour of their time, GIFTED me a cigar, made me feel like im a VIP; but I can definitively say that if you walk into any of these shops, even if you don't purchase anything, you can expect to have the same exact experience that I had. Which is being treated like you are one of them. And the real kicker is that London as a city is like that, which really resonates with the cigar industry very much, and in a lot of ways, LONDON IS CIGARS AND CIGARS IS LONDON. but these two shops @davidofflondon3525 @jamesjfoxcigars9859 take things to a level that I genuinely believe can only be found in London. the hospitality, the knowledge, the atmosphere-it wasn't just about cigars; it was about community, about culture, about people who actually give a damn about what they do. and I truly believe that these shops don't just sell cigars. they are selling a #lifestyle and in my opinion they are the gold standard. period. I was absolutely starstruck when I was greeted by Eddie Sahakain in his shop and his willingness of wanting to be part of this project. I am incredibly grateful for Tazminah Edoo (store manager of James J. Fox) for opening their doors to me and allowing me to come in an hour before and opening to film and conduct the interview. I can't thank all of them enough, not just for their hospitality but also their patients throughout this entire project. It was a huge pleasure to sit down and have a chat with them. But as far as I am concerned this project is not yet finished. if you do know someone who would fit this project and is willing to sit down with us for an hour please tag them/comment their names below/share this video with them so maybe I can complete this project. music: "Jazz Comedy" by SergeQuadrado Licensed under CC BY 4.0 https//freesound.org/people/sergeQuadrado/Sound/701154/ https//creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/